Cowardice
by Sarnai4
Summary: How was Dagur's life before being known as chief of Berserkers? Were his feelings towards his father, entirely, for show? Or did he feel that he was weak and why? Come to find out
1. A Start

**Disclaimer: I own only Tia by name. Her role and every other character is property of Dreamworks animation and Cartoon Network/Netflix.**

A viking of five years was browsing in his village. While his mother was caring for his baby sister, she had asked his father to let him get some fresh air and go with him to run errands. His father had gone off about an hour ago to do his business and told him to find some of his own. The boy was extremely bored looking at the different villagers as none of them did much of anything.

Everyone seemed so old and worn out, so the boy went to look for some children with whom to play. He smiled, brightly, when he saw a group of three. There was a dark haired boy, an auburn girl, and a blond boy. He skipped over to them, "Hello, I'm Dagur. Want to go chase some chickens?" he asked them. They gave him confused looks, "Uh, no. We're about to play tag. You can join, I guess." the girl said, hesitantly. He smiled in a crazy way and the trio looked at each other, "You be it. We'll hide." the blond boy told him.

Dagur closed his eyes, then hunted the others down. He found the dark haired boy getting some food and tackled him, "One down." he laughed. Before the boy could react, Dagur was up and running to find the other two. He found the girl at the trading station with her parents and tackled her when they were not looking. Lastly, he found the other boy at his house and got him.

"Okay, that **was** pretty fun." he admitted. The three had followed him and were glaring. "That wasn't fun. You play too rough and weren't even supposed to find us. We thought that you'd give up." the brunette complained. "That wasn't too rough. I just pinned you to the ground and got up! That was all. And what do you mean I wasn't supposed to find you? I thought that's the point of the whole game." Dagur defended. "We don't want to play with you. You're weird. Stop following us too." the girl told him. Dagur frowned back and turned to leave.

Dagur found another spot to sit, "_They don't know what they're missing. Stupid brats."_ he thought, bitterly. A viking crying out caught his attention, "Spooked yak!" A large yak in a frenzy ran out into the village, almost impaling several vikings with his horns. Dagur pepared himself to attack it when another viking leapt onto its back and forced it to the ground. With wide eyes, Dagur watched the viking get off the yak, triumphantly.

"A million thanks, Ansson!" the yak owner said. Ansson gave the man a cocky smile. "It's nothin'. Just try to keep that thing in the pin next time." he instructed. Ansson walked away as Dagur ran over to him. "That was amazing! You were all like," Dagur pretended to do as the older viking did, "and-" "Who are you?" the teenager inquired. "I'm Dagur and I've heard about you, Ansson. Everyone seems to love you."

Ansson began to walk away and then stopped, "Dagur, you said? You're the chief's son, ain't ya?" Dagur nodded. The viking thought, "Well, why didn't you **start** with that?" he put an arm around Dagur's shoulders, "Come on. There's hours of sunlight left today. So much we can do. Don't have any plans do ya?" "None. What do you have planned?" the boy asked, with a deranged twinkle.

The two went to the arena, "Now catch the knives and toss them in the air like this." Ansson demonstrated. Observing diligently, Dagur copied the movements and executed them, properly. "Not half bad." Ansson said, impressed, "Next, you gotta tackle those yaks. Are you up to it?" he questioned. Dagur looked at the yaks, "Of course I am! Watch." he climbed over the fence and mounted the back of a yak. He shifted his weight and tried to pull the yak down, but he was too light.

Ansson laughed, "Not so good at that, though, huh? Well, there's plenty of other things to try. How about boar pits?" The duo spent the day doing all sorts of dangerous stunts and Dagur loved every second of the action. Just beforw dark, Oswald returned from his errands, "Dagur, I'm going back home now." he said. The boy hurried over to him and waved to the other viking, "See you tomorrow, Ansson." Dagur called.

They arrived home and Oswald went to his chieftess, giving her a kiss on the cheek and smiling at his uncle before going to his throne room. "How was your day, Son? Do anything fun?" Tia inquired. Dagur grinned, "Uh-huh. I made a new friend. His name's Ansson and we tackled yaks and juggled daggers and all that. It was great!" She smiled, "I'm glad you had a good day and could spent it with someone. Where was your father?" "He was doing the errands." Dagur answered, honestly. The chieftess set her jaw, "Want to play with your little sister while I go speak to Daddy?" she offered. Dagur bounced over to the baby's cradle in response.

He loved his sister Heather, dearly. Smiling, he rocked the cradle, gently. She cooed and grinned back at him. "You gotta get bigger so **we** can play too." he encouraged. He made a silly face and she laughed. That made his day whenever she did. "Do you want to bere a story, Lad?" his great uncle Haggard asked. Dagur smiled and sat down to listen to the exciting war tale that was to come.

Tia went into the throne room and frowned at her husband. "What's the matter, Dear?" he questioned. "Do not act so oblivious. When I asked you to take Dagur with you, I was implying that you **spend time** with him too. Is that too much to ask for?" she inquired, annoyed. Oswald was busy looking at his model ships, "I suppose not." he answered, vaguely. Tia's frown turned to a glare, "You suppose not? Good to know retorical questions are futile against Oswald the Agreeable. Maybe if you could be Oswald the Listener or Oswald the Good Father sometime, that would be splendid." She stormed out the room and put a smile on her face so that her son would not sense anything being wrong.

"Toughest three!" Dagur laughed. Tia gave Haggard a look that said that she wanted to talk with him alone. The two went to the study as Dagur kept getting Heather to giggle.

She closed the door, softly, behind them. "He** does** love his son, right?" she asked the elderly man. "I believe so. He just doesn't understand him." was his answer. "Well, I didn't understand him either, but then I paid attention and learned how his mind works. It's not an impossible feat." Her eyes glistened, "I only had Heather so soon afterwards because he promised me that he would be there with Dagur and help him. I wasn't going to stop raising him, but I have to make sure Heather's health is fine first. Enfants are tricky to be sure with." she told. "Give Dagur another week going with Oswald into the village and if nothing comes out of it, take action." Haggard suggested. Tia sighed and conceded to the idea.

The rest of the week went like this: Dagur would go outside and meet up with his new friends and they would do death-defying tricks. On the seventh day, Ansson was pensive. "What's wrong, Anssy?" Dagur asked him. "Oh, nothing. It's just that my pops is trying to get me some new weapons and no one is willing to trade. They really want some gold that we just don't have." the viking elaborated. Dagur brightened, "If that's the only issue, that's easy. I have some gold saved up that you could borrow. Probably won't need it anytime soon." "How much do you have?" Dagur shrugged, "I don't remember. I've never spent any of it, so I think about ten pieces."

Ansson's face went somber, "I thank you, Friend, but that will not be enough to cover it." he glimmered with hope, "Doesn't the chief have some gold of his own that we could use?" Dagur's brow furrowed, "He **does** have his own gold, but we can't use it for this. It's for chiefing, I guess, and all those old people problems." "But he's your dad. It's, practically, half yours." Ansson pressed. "It's really not. Um, maybe we could use your and my gold and then see if they'd be willing to barder for the remainder?" Dagur suggested. Ansson shook his head, firmly, "No, they were steadfast in saying that they would never barder for it, they just need a pound of gold." The little boy's eyes went wide, "A pound?! How much do you have saved up?" "Not much." the older one divulged, looking at his feet.

"I'm sorry, Pal, but I can't ask my dad for almost a pound of gold. He'd think I'm crazy." Ansson said, under his breath, "Too late for that." and louder, "I never said to **ask** for it. My folks always say what's theirs is mine, so there's never any words exchanged." Dagur looked at him with horror, "He already doesn't like me asking for stuff, since that costs money or time. He'd be furious if I did **that!**"

"Dagur," Oswald called. "Coming!" the boy answered. "Sorry. See you in the morning?" he asked, hopefully. Ansson nodded amd frowned after him.


	2. Faux Amis

Dagur went home with a frowning expression. "You okay?" Tia asked him. He went over to her, "Do your friends ever ask you for gold." Her face saddened, "Well, if they **really** need it, they know that I would help them; however, if it's for something small, I think that vikings should try to handle that on their own. Friends shouldn't use each other." Dagur nodded and went to watch Heather.

The next day, Dagur went to the arena-like had the past week-and found no one to be present. Sadly, he returned home. Just as he reached for the doorknob, he sensed someone behind him. "Dagur," a young viking started, "Ansson says that his folks don't believe what he said about not being able to get the weapons. He asked me to ask you to go to his house and help convince them that he's not lying."

Dagur, hurriedly, went to the hut. He had seen Ansson go to grab some things from there, so he knew which one it was. He knocked and the viking opened the door. "Heard what happened. I'm ready to tell them that I said no." he told his friend. "That won't be necessary," Ansson replied, closing and locking the door behind them. Dagur gave him a confused expression, "They're mad, aren't they?" Ansson looked at him, blandly, "Not at all. They never even knew about what I told you."

Dagur raised a brow, "What do you mean? Why'd you lie?" The older viking scowled, "I lied because after a week of putting up with you, I deserved a reward. Your pop's the chief. That's the only reason I even started hanging out you in the first place." The little boy was hurt, but tried to conceal it, "Why am I here then? Just so you could tell me to get lost?" he questioned with faux moxie.

Ansson smiled, widely, "Not entirely. You get to find out why I'm called 'abominable'." he began to walk over to the boy, menacingly. Dagur attempted to stand his ground, but got pushed into a wall. "You've been a bad friend, kid. Time for you to learn a lesson in sharing." the older viking said. Dagur began to reach for something, but was interrupted when Ansson brought up his arm and punched the boy across the face. Dagur let out a grunt and was elbowed in the chest, pushing him back into the wall. Ansson punched him again, this time in the stomach. Dagur reeled over and the other viking kneed him in the face. He grabbed Dagur's face in his hand and slammed his head into the wall, following it with a sledgehammerlike fist to his head.

Ansson put his face close to Dagur's and gave a sickening smirk. The boy tried to keep fear from his eyes, but knew it was there. "Turn." Ansson ordered, as he spin the boy to face the wall. He proceeded to search him, "I don't have any gold on me." Dagur protested, with a slight quiver in his voice. Ansson "humphed" and kept patting him down. He started to pull up the bottom of his tunic, "Stop that!" Dagur insisted, nervously. Ansson pulled out a dagger that the boy had been keeping hidden and pushed it into the boy's abdomen, drawing a little blood.

"So, you weren't as gullible as I thought." Ansson realized. _"I actually just always keep that on me."_ Dagur thought, wincing. "I should just gut you with this and throw you into the water." Ansson said. The little boy began to tremble a bit. "That wouldn't be fun, though. I'll just take this as payment for sparing your life and dealing with you last week. Of course, my **precious** time might never be renewed. Looks like we'll have to find a lot of ways for you to make it up me. But that's for another day." He yoked Dagur by the braid and threw him out of his house.

The young heir landed hard on the ground and got up, quickly, hoping that no one saw him. Some kids did and pointed at him while laughing. He turned beet red and rushed home with a lump in his throat. Tia and Haggard were out of the house and only Oswald was there with Heather. He glanced at Dagur and continued to play with his daughter.

Dagur did not want to talk about it, anyway. He went to the washroom and tried to clean away evidence of blood and bruising. Sure he had been spanked before for doing something wrong, but he had never been attacked like that. "_Ansson's not my friend and never was." _he thought, bitterly. "_Course he isn't. No one **ever** __wants to be pals with me. To them, I'm either a freak or a punk."_ A couple tears fell from his eyes and he wiped them away, fearing what his family would think if they saw them.

He went to his room and closed the door. An hour later, he heard the front door open and his mom and great uncle enter. Dagur felt his face and knew that his eye was swelling, _"Oh no! They'll see me and get disappointed 'cause I couldn't beat him."_ he thought, in a panic. Running around his room, he found a helmet that had been made for his birth. It did not fit, but he hoped it would draw attention away from his face. He blew out a candle, "_Shadows should help." _he figured.

Tia knocked on his door, "Come in." he answered, trying to hide his nerves. She came into the room and her eyes widened as she saw the large object on her small son's figure. Struggling not to laugh, she sat down on his bed. "Any particular reason why you put your helmet on and the lights are out?" she questioned. He shrugged, "It's cool and I gotta learn how to do stuff in it. Aaand, my night vision needs to improve. " Becoming suspicious, she removed the equiptment and lit a light.

She gasped as she saw the bruises that covered Dagur's face. "What happened?" she questioned. When he hesitated, she guessed, "Was it Ansson?" Dagur's eyes told her "yes" and rage coursed through her veins. Priorities were important to her, so she, gently, took in Dagur's face. Her eyes scanning every inch as she analyzed what was hurting. She ran a hand on the back of his head and he winced. Looking close, she saw no blood on the scalp and only a knot.

"Is anywhere else hurting?" she asked. He told her his stomach and she rolled up his tunic. It was not scary when she did that and she brought him to the main room to clean the wound, properly. "Do you want to talk about it?" she looked at her son. He was unsure at first, but sighed and blurted out, "Ansson only wanted to spend time with me so that I'd steal Daddy's gold and when I said no he got mad and beat me up." Slower, he told her the rest of what occurred. It felt almost nice to release that. By then, it was late, so Dagur went to bed while Tia and Haggard spoke to Oswald.

"Did you just not see him?" the chieftess asked, angrily. Haggard stood, watching sadly from the side of the room. Oswald fumbled for words, "I was with Heather-" "So you ignore your son?!" she yelled. Haggard put a hand on her shoulder to calm her, "You have more explaining to do than you seem capable, Nephew." Oswald frowned, "I never asked for a crazy son. I'm 'agreeable' not unstable. As long as he does not prevent the peace that I have worked so hard to achieve, he can do whatever he pleases." Tia looked at him, hurt, "He's the same as any child. He wants us to love, teach, and **protect** him. You don't even care that a boy thrice his age locked him in his house and attacked him." Oswald said nothing.

Haggard glared at the chief, "A real chief and viking defends thier own, Oswald." "Who says that I even consider him my own." the chief said, under his breath. "**I **will deal with this. Just like I always do when it's confrontational." Tia stated and left the house. She barged up to the teenager's hut and knocked, loudly. A woman opened the door, "Oh, Chieftess. We weren't expecting y-" Tia brushed past and spotted Ansson lounging. She grabbed him by his collar and lifted him off the ground.

"If you ever touch my son again, you'll see Valhalla before you can blink." she hissed. She tossed him into the wall, knocking the air put of him and turned to his parents, "Control your son. **That's** an order." and she left.


	3. Family

Oswald went to the trading station and found some lenses to get. To have Tia not glare at him all day, he brought Dagur with him and did not ditch him either. They walked past the docks on their way and saw Ansson. Dagur tried to hide behind his father, but Oswald moved. "You really need your mom to protect you? Pathetic. Just...dainty." Ansson claimed, proud of himself for the word choice, "Dagur the Dainty. That's who you are." the bully laughed and some of the younger vikings laughed also-afraid if they did not.

Dagur looked at his father, hopefully. Oswald looked away and began his trip home. Stomping, the little boy followed him. "Thanks for the backup." he said, sarcastically. "You cannot fight fire with fire. Peace comes at a cost sometimes and you must be willing to pay it." Oswald said. "So just get beaten up?" Dagur questioned, appalled. Oswald shrugged, "I don't know your path, Dagur. You'll have to figure that out, yourself." "_I can always rely on him for good advice."_ The young viking thought, grumpily.

The next day, Haggard and Dagur went out for a little bit. Ansson approached them, slyly, but was noticed by the boy. "Don't want to give the old man a heart attack, do ya?" the teen antagonized, in a harsh whisper. Dagur knew his great uncle's health was not very good, so he did not want to upset him. He dodged some attacks from the older boy, but Ansson kicked him in the back. He ran over and raised his hand to hit the boy, though it was caught by Haggard. "If you want that to remain a hand and not a hook, I'd suggest you keep it to yourself." he told, furiously. Ansson paled, "Yessir." and ran away from them.

Dagur got up and hugged his uncle. "Thanks, Great Uncle Haggard." he said and looked worried afterwards, "Are you okay?" he inquired, concerned. Haggard was breathing heavily and could not answer, immediately. He regained his breath, "I'm fine, Lad. Let's head back to the hut, eh?" Dagur helped him up and back to their home.

Entering their house, Oswald rushed to them, "Uncle!" Haggard shooed him away, "Don't fuss over me, Nephew." He went to his room and lied down. He passed that night, peacefully. Dagur refused to allow tears to fall from his eyes even when he was alone. The funeral was held and the boy watched as the man's corpse and ship were set aflame.

Tia continued to pay attention to Dagur and how his mind functioned. He was devastated by Haggard's death, but kept it bottled inside. She tried to keep him in her sight and Ansson knew better than to attack him anymore. He still would speak ill of the boy both to him and behind his back, though when Tia could not be present.

Heather was starting to go outside a bit. She was a little clumsy at first, but was getting the hang of all the hills and cracks of the ground. Heather and Oswald were outside once and she tripped. Dagur tensed as he watched from inside, too far to catch her. The kids, that had tried to lose him in hide 'n seek, saw her and giggled. The little girl blushed and her brother steamed. "_Come on, Dad. Do **something." **_he hoped. Oswald simply patted her head and they went inside.

"What was that?" Dagur questioned, upset. Oswald raised a brow, "What was what?" "Why didn't you tell them that you'd put their helmets **inside** their heads instead of **on** them?" Dagur offered. Oswald frowned, "Because I am a responsible viking, Dagur. I cannot threaten my subjects like that." Dagur scowled, "You could at least do something." he grumbled as the chief went to his study.

Two years had gone by and the time for the resigning the peace treaty had come again and the Berserker family boarded their vessels. "I wonder how Hiccup's doing." the seven year old mentioned to his mother. She smiled, "I'm sure he's doing fine. It will be nice seeing them all again." Their ships anchored and they went to the docks, being greeted by Stoick.

The Berkians and Berserkers spoke to one another for a while. Deeming himself to have been patient enough, Dagur asked where Hiccup was. The Berkian chief showed the them to where the young viking was. "He's still so small." Dagur noted, quietly. The very little boy waved at the Berserker siblings and sat down to play with some toys. Heather joined him and Dagur looked outside. His eyes widened, "Mom." he started.

Dagur rushed over to the little children and held them close to protect them. Tia and Stoick ran to the door and saw the village being attacked. "Dragons!" Stoick yelled. The Berkian chief and Berserker chieftess ran out to help the other vikings as Oswald stayed with the kids. Dagur wanted to help his mom, but also to protect his sister and little friend.

A Deadly Nadder came behind Stoick and Tia blinded it. He gave her a quick nod of thanks and they continued their fighting. Back at the hut, a Monstrous Nightmare burned a whole into the roof. Oswald screamed and Dagur threw a knife at the dragon. It hit the reptile in the eye and it fired a blast at them. Clutching the kids to him, Dagur maneuvered out of the way. He looked at his father and saw the viking petrified by fear. The need to kill was in the Nightmare's pupils and Dagur rolled the kids to a corner.

The dragon opened his mouth and roared, preparing to blast the boy. Tia heard this and ran full speed. Dagur felt a shove as he went into a wall. He was in the same corner as the little ones and covered their eyes. He could not manage to close his own as he witnessed his mother being burnt alive. She let out a bloodcurdling scream and threw her sword into the dragon's heart. In an instant, both fell dead.

"Mom!" Dagur yelled and ran to her, holding her charred corpse. Tears fell, silently from his eyes as he rocked her back and forth. Oswald had tears in his own eyes as he saw his beloved. He held his daughter and Hiccup, so that they would not know what happened. A few minutes later, the dragons flew away and Stoick and Gobber returned to his hut. They looked in horror at the scene and went over to the boy.

Gobber, gently, pried Dagur's fingers off Tia and he carried her away. The boy bit his lip to stop the tears and curled up into a ball. Seeing this, Stoick patted his shoulder, "It'll be okay, Son." he tried to assure him, unsure of what to say. He looked at Oswald and at Hiccup, piecing together how it all occurred. "_Did Dagur keep my boy safe?_" he wondered, "_No, it must've been Oswald._"

Stoick went to his friend, "I'm so sorry, Oswald. I thank you for keeping my son safe, though. I'm in your debt for that and if you ever need anything, Berk will be here." Both Oswald and Dagur were too fixated on what happened to hear what he said. They held the funeral on Berserker Island a few weeks later. "_Why, Odin? Couldn't you have taken me instead of leaving us without her?" _Dagur thought one night. The night was a sleepless one as visions of his mother's death played in the head on repeat. Her scream echoed in his brain and he wanted to scream, himself and cry. Rather than do that, he laughed. And laughed. And laughed.


	4. Responsibilities

A few weeks had passed since the funeral and Oswald was, practically, dead inside. "_My beloved Tia is gone." _he wrote in his journal, with tears forming, "_Heather is so young. She won't even remember her." _He frowned and jotted something else down, angrily.A knock came on their door and Dagur answered, seeing that his father was busy. "Good day, Dagur. Is your father around?" the viking asked. The boy nodded and brought him to the chief.

"Chief, we need you to look at some new supplies that the traders have brought." Vorg informed. Oswald sighed, "I'm sure it's fine. Whatever it is, Vorg." Vorg looked unconvinced, but did not want to press the matter. "I can go look at them." Dagur offered. The captain thought for a moment and consented.

There were a lot of new weapons and foods that were being supplied to them and they all looked nice. "Ooh, this one's extra sharp." Dagur commented, talking about an ax, "These are always cool. They cut you from **both **ways!" he laughed, playing with the equiptment. Seeing the captain's stern face, he put it back and cleared his throat. "Yes, I believe these are all satisfactory." he declared, with an air of dignity. Vorg thanked him as Dagur grabbed a toy for Heather and started back home.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ansson appraoching. He sped up, but was blocked from going further. "Why are you carrying a stupid toy, Dainty?" he questioned. "Why do you need to know?" Dagur shot back. Ansson scowled, "I think, I'll use it as burning material." Dagur moved back and tried to find a way past him. Ansson moved in and missed trying to punch the boy. Upset, he lounged and tackled Dagur to the ground. Ansson yoked him back up, taking the boy's arm and twisted it behind his back, painfully.

He grabbed the back his Dagur's neck and squeezed it tight. Ansson snatched the toy and kicked the boy in the side. He then went, happily, on his way. Dagur rose and frowned after him. He spat in Ansson's direction and went home. "Burning material." he grumbled, spitefully. "**This** is how you make a fire." Dagur said, boastfully to himself. He used a lense that Oswald had given him and let the sunlight ignite a flame onto some leaves. He cheered as the fire grew. The chief, smelling smoke, ran out of the hut to see what was happening.

"What in Thor's name is wrong with you?!" Oswald shouted. He got some water to put out the fire. "It was a small fire." Dagur protested, emphasizing his point by stomping the flame out. Oswald frowned at him and told him to go inside.

The following morning, Oswald told him to go get some fish for their dinner. Dagur went and spotted out some good ones with his lense. "_If I can't use this for fire, I can at least do this."_ he figured. He bought six fish for that meal and the next. Again, Ansson approached him, "Fish, eh? I know a really good way to get those." Dagur eyed him, suspiciously. There were few options in space to run, so Ansson grabbed his arm and started to drag him to the docks.

"Let go!" The little boy stuggled against the young man's grip. They went over to the water and Ansson jumped in, bringing them both down. The water was deepest there and Dagur tried to stay affloat. The other viking was a stronger swimmer and needed only his legs. Ansson used his arms to push Dagur's head into the water. Gulping air whenever his head resurfaced, Dagur had a difficult time not drowning. He attempted to swim away, but the other viking was faster and grabbed him by his waist.

Dagur tried to kick him, but the water made his movements slow and inefficient. He was growing tired and Ansson pulled him further from the shore. "No." he let out, weakly. The water was freezing and they had been out there for a while. When Ansson got bored, he hit Dagur in the head and swam back. The boy saw stars and shook his head to clear them. He swam back as quickly as he could and collapsed on the land, shivering.

The fish, of course, were gone and Dagur returned to get some more. The vendor had seen what happened, "Next time Ansson buys from me, I'll charge him double." she said, giving the boy his fish for free. Dagur thanked her, gratefully, and went home. "Did you get lost?" Oswald inquired, slightly annoyed. Dagur snarled, "I got drowned. Almost anyway." Oswald shook his head, "Well, I suppose you best work on your swimming." Dagur shook with rage, "Or maybe I should-!" he stopped, not sure what how to finish. "Think before you speak." the chief concluded.

Dagur gave a yell and went to his room, slamming the door behind him. "_Why does he hate me so much?"_ the boy wondered, miserably, "_As much as he loves Heather, would he be too big of a punk to protect her?"_ He thought about him almost drowning, "_When Hiccup gets older, I'll have to make sure no one does that to him. I won't be so rough, but he'll be able to defend himself from other vikings."_ he decided.

Dagur was beginning to realize that he was becoming the errand boy. Oswald did not want to do the little things and Tia took care of most of the work in general. The boy did not mind work, but doing everything was getting tiresome. "Do I **have** to go to the hall?" he asked his father. _"Ansson's supposed to be there."_ he thought. "Yes, Dagur. Go, before you're late." was the reply. "_Before I'm late. It's nowhere near the time for it to start. Just say, 'Leave because I'm tired of seeing you', next time"._ Dagur mused, ruefully.

He listened to the vikings talk about their concerns and answered as many questions as he could. "Do you expect us to listen to some dainty viking?" Ansson called out. Dagur turned and glared, "No, I expect you to listen to your future chief." he said, firmly. Ansson glared back and then smiled, "Sorry, I keep forgetting Oswald's your dad. Considering how many times I've seen you spend time together, I think he has too." Dagur kept his face from expressing hurt and set his jaw, "He's dealing with something now, so **I'm** acting chief." Ansson marched over to him, "You're not a chief, a Berserker, or a viking."

Dagur looked at him and at the faces of his people. They were unsure if he could be a good leader to him. "I'm-" he began and made a small yelp. He was cut short by Ansson putting him in the Berserker choke hold. "**Nothing**." Ansson finished, "Just a disgrace." Dagur tried to free his throat, but failed. He thought he heard people laugh, but did not know if it were just his imagination. As more time went by, the room spun and faded to black.


	5. Gifts

Viking Herald saw a crowd forming near the hall. _"What is going on over there?"_ he wondered. Pushing through, he saw the seven year old dangling by his throat in the air. The seventeen year old viking holding him there and putting something in his pocket. He rushed over and choked Ansson. The young man yelped as his feet left the ground. He let go of Dagur, who Herald caught from hitting the ground. "What do you want from this boy?" Herald hissed. Ansson said nothing and had fear evident on his face.

Herald looked at the viking with disgust and threw him near the hall's fireplace. The cinders burned him and he patted himself down to stop the flame from spreading. Herald looked at Dagur and saw that he was out cold. He glared at the other vikings, who did nothing to stop that, and carried the boy back to his hut.

"Chief." he called. Oswald came and looked at his son, "He's all right. Just unconscious." Herald told him. "What happened?" the chief inquired. "Ansson was choking him." the viking divulged. "I can rearrange the brat's insides on your orders, Sir." Herald offered, hopefully. Oswald looked at him, "No, that won't be necessary, Herald." Herald frowned, "It's not uncharacteristic for me. It would never be traced back to you, Chief." "I said no, General. But, I **am **glad that you came. I have some troops that I want you go out with in a few days. Think you'll be able?" The general nooded and left. Oswald looked at Dagur, who Herald had put in a chair. _"What am I to do with him?"_ he wondered.

In the next few days, Herald and some Berserkers went on their voyage and the end of the week was a special day. "Tomorrow is Ansson's eighteenth birthday, Dagur. I expect you to attend the party." Oswald said. Dagur's jaw dropped, "You've got to be kidding me! You want **me** to go to his birthday party?!" The chief nodded, "You'll be chief one day-Odin help us when that day comes- so you should make peace now." Dagur paced, "He doesn't want peace. He wants-well I'm not sure what, but I'm not going." Oswald went over to him and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, "This is not up to debate. You **are** going, so accept that." And with that, he went to his throne room.

"'You **are** going'", Dagur mocked, quietly and scoffed. "Here's the gift you should bring him. A silver platter on which to serve yourself." He did an exaggerated bow and threw a dagger at a target that he imagined was Ansson. "Maybe I could give him my lense. Oh yeah! He already has it!" Dagur laughed, crazily, "Just be proactive, I guess, and **give** him the stuff so he doesn't **have** to take it. Gotta love that Oswald and his reasonings."

Dagur's nerves were going haywire the next day. He just knew something terrible would happen. It always did when Ansson was involved. He sneaked around the party room, put the gift his dad instructed him to leave on the table, and made his way through the crowd to leave. Someone caught his braid amd yoked him back. Dagur saw that it was one of the occassional Ansson flunkies.

"Ansson!" the viking called, keeping Dagur in place. The birthday boy came over and smiled, smugly, at the boy. "Came to celebrate with me? What'd you bring?" Dagur tried not to stammer, "I brought some new fishing gear." Ansson pondered, with his hand to his chin, "Not half bad. But not whole good. I'm gonna need more than that." He had his friend release the boy and he grabbed him, himself.

He punched him in the stomach and brought his heel down on his back. Dagur fell to the floor and was brought up by his braid. A chop to his throat kept him from breathing. A light flickered in Ansson's eyes, "Kiss my boots." Dagur gave him a confused look, "What?" he croaked out. "It's the ultimate surrender. Ask anyone." Dagur frowned, "Then, never." Ansson kicked the backs of his knees and fell on him, his elbow going into the boy's back. Dagur cried out as Ansson began to bend his left leg the wrong way.

The viking did not stop until he heard a sickening crack. "Kiss my boots." he repeated and put his feet near the boy's face. Dagur refused, warranting a kick in the face. Ansson pushed Dagur's face into the ground, furiously. He yanked him up and punched his stomach again, targetting his right ribs. Dagur went to block, but Ansson's friends held his arms back. The viking changed and punched his face. "Kiss them!" Dagur spat a baby tooth, that Ansson had punched out, at him.

Ansson took his ax and cut the boy's side. Dagur yelled out and the viking told his friends to let him go. "Walk to that wall." he ordered. Dagur, barely, could walk at all and limped, badly. Ansson put his forearm on the boy's chest to push him and brought his face to the boy's ear. "You've made me mad on my birthday. Now, you have to kiss my boots **and** submit, entirely, to me." he whispered. "I don't know what you're talking about. Wouldn't kissing the boots be submitting?" Dagur asked. Ansson shook his head, "Not the way I want. In other words, either **you** do, or I'll force your sister to when she's your age."

The little boy still did not understand what he meant, but he wanted him to stay as far away from his little sister as possible. "_In three years from now, I still might not be able to defeat him. Maybe I don't have to. Dad can protect her."_ he thought back to when Oswald allowed Heather to be made fun of, and he doubted that.

Suddenly, Dagur saw Oswald talking to Ansson's parents. "Dad!' he called. Ansson clapped his hand over his mouth, "Shut up." he hissed. Oswald heard the boy and looked his way, vaguely. The bloody side of his body was out of view to the chief. Dagur's eyes pleaded with his father, but the viking went back to his conversation.

Dagur was heartbroken, "_Dad, please. If you never help me again, just do now."_ he mentally begged. "Well, that was interesting. He cares less than I thought. So, it's up to you. **You **or the girl?" Ansson questioned. Dagur's head drooped and he sighed, "Me." "That's a good big brother." Ansson said, condescendingly. Painstakingly, Dagur bent down and kissed the viking's boots. Ansson, then, grabbed his wrist and raised him. The other vikings paid little attention as Ansson dragged Dagur. They went over to a room that Dagur saw was a bedroom. His brow rose and he was pushed inside. The little boy, instinctively, paled as the young man walked over to him.


	6. Endure To Protect

After a couple of hours had passed-and the guests had left, happily-Ansson unlocked and opened the door. He grabbed a trembling Dagur off his bed and pulled him across the house to the front door. Flashing the boy a smile, he held him close, "I'm sure your mom and great uncle would be fine with this. But, you know, I'm still curious about your sister." He threw him onto the outside dirt, closing the door afterwards.

Dagur was unable to move for a moment, completely petrified. Slowly, he rose, balancing on his good leg. Taking in shaky breaths, he hobbled back to his hut. He closed the door, timidly, and jumped when Oswald came over to see who it was. The chief saw his injuries and a look in his son's eyes that he had never seen so abundantly. It was a mixture of fear, hurt, shame, and disappointed. "What happened?" he asked, he had to. As much as he wanted to be rid of Dagur, to focus on his sane child, he was still one of his children.

The boy's bottom lip quivered and anger rose in his body. "You looked away! I **know** you saw me. You looked **right** at me and turned away, ashamed!" Dagur yelled, getting choked up on the last word. Oswald glowered, "Don't take that tone of voice with m-" "Don't pretend that you're my father now. You always pretend that I'm not your son." the boy told. Oswald was taken aback and frowned again. "Why do you hate me?!" Dagur asked. In a rage, Oswald grabbed his journal, flipped through the pages, and shoved it at the boy.

Dagur looked down at the paper, "_My Uncle Haggard died today. He told me that he was protecting Dagur and would do it a million times over. If it were not for that menace, my uncle would still be here."_ The boy looked up, "Turn until you see a Scauldron drawing." Oswald commanded, angrily. Dagur obeyed and read on, "_My uncle was not enough. My beloved Tia has left me this evening in a gruesome way. If only she had sought to ensure her own safety over that of her son's. Another life of my loved ones has been lost because of Dagur._"

The boy handed his father the book and turned to go to his room. He paused, "Would you be willing to fight someone for **Heather**?" he questioned. Oswald hesitated and Dagur left and waited, patiently, for his father to go to sleep. He cleaned and stitched his wounds and tried to mend his broken leg, in the meantime. After the chief went to sleep, Dagur went to his sister's room. He knew what he had to do and it pained him more than anything that had occurred that night.

He grabbed her clothes, toys, and found some soft and warm blankets, swaddling her in them. He limped outside, her in his arms and went to a boat. He did not know how navigate one yet, so he went to one of the soldiers' huts. "I know it's late, but could you **please** find her a nice family?" he begged, earnestly. The Berserker agreed and Dagur gave Heather a kiss on her forehead before handing her to the man.

Dagur hobbled to his hut. Oswald had gotten up for a drink of mead and saw him. "Why are you up? What were you doing outside?" he asked, suspicious. Dagur faltered, he had expected to explain in the morning. Somehow guessing, Oswald went to Heather's room and stormed back. "Where is my daughter?!" he thundered. "She's safe." he assured, "Ansson threatened to do stuff to Heather, so I had Abner take her somewhere safe."

"You did what?!" Oswald yelled and began walking towards the boy. "He's not bluffing! If I can't protect her, I don't want her to go through that." Dagur said, honestly, tears rimming his eyes. Oswald grabbed his jaw and held it tight, "You got rid of my child." he hissed. Dagur's jaw felt like it was going to break. He, initially, convinced himself that his father was tipsy, but the clear look in his eyes and unslurred speech indicated otherwise.

Oswald yanked out some of the boy's hair and held it in front of his eyes. "**This** is Tia's," he said, implying its color, "You don't deserve to have it. I ought to-" "What?" Dagur asked, getting fed up with everything that had happened. "Teach me a lesson by beating me like Ansson does? Or doing his **new** thing?" Dagur said, a tear fell from his eye and then he laughed, "That last one just isn't you, though." Oswald glared at him and as the laugh continued, grew disturbed enough want to let him go.

He released his grip and realized that he was keeping the boy in the air. As a final act, he knocked the boy down, causing him to hit his head on the table. Oswald went to his room and cried. Dagur struggled to stand back up and used a chair to push himself upright. He limped to his room and closed the door. The boy did not notice that his laughing had turned into crying until tears fell, freely down his face.

Seeing a bed sent shivers down his spine and he cursed himself for being afraid to get on the object. He slid down onto the floor and leaned against a wall. "_Dad blames me for both of their deaths."_ he thought, "_I did the right thing with sending Heather away. He would let Ansson have his way with her, if it caused any conflict."_ More tears fell as the little boy shook, violently, "_Why did Ansson do those things to me?__" _He pondered more and in horror thought, _"How can I ever be respected as chief now? They'll just laugh if I try to lead them. I'll have to be extra tough to prove that I'm not dainty or someone to mess with. This was the first and last time. I might get beaten up again, but I'll **never** have something like tonight reoccur."_


End file.
